1969 Ice Hockey World Championships

The 1969 Ice Hockey World Championships was the 36th time countries came together to compete in ice hockey. It also served as the 47th European ice hockey championships. For the first time, the top teams (Pool A), the next level teams (Pool B), and lower level teams (Pool C) all played in different countries.

Pool A took place in Stockholm, Sweden, from March 15 to March 30, 1969. Pool B was held in Ljubljana, Yugoslavia, from February 28 to March 9, 1969. Pool C happened in Skopje, Yugoslavia, from February 24 to March 2, 1969.

A total of 20 nations took part in these championships. The Pool A group had only the six best teams, who played each other twice to decide the amateur world champion. Teams ranked 7th to 14th played in Pool B, where the winner would move up to Pool A the next year. The teams in Pool C were the six lowest-ranked teams. This year, Pool B and Pool C started swapping two teams each year, a system that continued until 1987.

World Championship Group A (Sweden)

For the seventh straight year, the Soviet Union won the Pool A tournament. Originally, the tournament was scheduled to be held in Czechoslovakia, but they declined to host after the Soviet invasion of the country. In the two games the Czechoslovak and Soviet teams played against each other, the Czechoslovak team won both times, becoming the first team to beat the Soviet Union twice in the same international tournament. For the first time in international ice hockey, body-checking was allowed in all three zones of the ice. Team USA was demoted to Pool-B after losing all ten games.

Pos.	Team	URS	SWE	TCH	CAN	FIN	USA	W	T	L	GF–GA	PTS
1.	Soviet Union	***	4:2*	0:2*	7:1*	6:1*	17:2*	8	0	2	59:23	16
2.	Sweden	2:3	***	2:0*	5:1*	6:3*	8:2*	8	0	2	45:19	16
3.	Czechoslovakia	4:3	0:1	***	6:1*	7:4*	8:3*	8	0	2	40:20	16
4.	Canada	2:4	2:4	2:3	***	5:1*	5:0*	4	0	6	26:31	8
5.	Finland	3:7	0:5	2:4	1:6	***	4:3*	2	0	8	26:52	4
6.	United States	4:8	4:10	2:6	0:1	3:7	***	0	0	10	23:74	0

47.	European Championship Rankings (URS-SWE-CSK-FIN games only)
1.	Soviet Union
2.	Sweden
3.	Czechoslovakia
4.	Finland

Pool A Statistics and team rosters

1. Soviet Union
   Goaltenders: Viktor Zinger, Viktor Puchkov.
   Defencemen: Vitali Davydov, Igor Romishevsky, Alexander Ragulin, Vladimir Lutchenko, Yevgeni Paladiev, Viktor Kuzkin.
   Forwards: Vladimir Vikulov, Alexander Maltsev, Anatoli Firsov, Boris Mikhailov, Vladimir Petrov, Valeri Kharlamov, Yevgeni Zimin, Viacheslav Starshinov, Alexander Yakushev, Yevgeni Mishakov, Vladimir Yurzinov.
   Coaches: Arkady Chernyshev, Anatoli Tarasov.

2. Sweden
   Goaltenders: Leif Holmqvist, Gunnar Bäckman.
   Defencemen: Lennart Svedberg, Arne Carlsson, Bert-Ola Nordlander, Lars-Erik Sjöberg, Nils Johansson, Kjell-Rune Milton.
   Forwards: Stig-Göran Johansson, Stefan Karlsson, Tord Lundström, Ulf Sterner, Lars-Göran Nilsson, Björn Palmqvist, Håkan Nygren, Mats Hysing, Dick Yderström, Roger Olsson, Leif Henriksson.
   Coach: Arne Strömberg.

3. Czechoslovakia
   Goaltenders: Vladimír Dzurilla, Miroslav Lacký.
   Defencemen: Jan Suchý, Josef Horešovský, Oldřich Machač, František Pospíšil, Vladimír Bednář.
   Forwards: František Ševčík, Jozef Golonka, Jaroslav Jiřík, Jan Hrbatý, Jaroslav Holík, Jiří Holík, Richard Farda, Václav Nedomanský, Josef Černý, Jan Klapáč, Jan Havel, Josef Augusta.
   Coaches: Jaroslav Pitner, Vladimír Kostka.

4. Canada
   Goaltenders: Wayne Stephenson, Ken Dryden, Steve Rexe.
   Defencemen: Gary Begg, Terry O'Malley, Ken Stephanson, Jack Bownass, Bob Murdoch, Ab DeMarco, Jr.
   Forwards: Gerry Pinder, Fran Huck, Morris Mott, Richie Bayes, Terry Caffery, Steve King, Chuck Lefley, Roger Bourbonnais, Ted Hargreaves, Bill Heindl, Danny O'Shea
   Coach: Jackie McLeod.

5. Finland
   Goaltenders: Urpo Ylönen, Lasse Kiili.
   Defencemen: Seppo Lindström, Lalli Partinen, Juha Rantasila, Ilpo Koskela, Pekka Marjamäki.
   Forwards: Lasse Oksanen, Juhani Wahlsten, Matti Keinonen, Esa Peltonen, Jorma Peltonen, Pekka Leimu, Lauri Mononen, Esa Isaksson, Juhani Jylhä, Veli-Pekka Ketola, Matti Harju, Kari Johansson.
   Coaches: Gustav Bubnik and Seppo Liitsola.

6. United States
   Goaltenders: Mike Curran, John Lothrop.
   Defencemen: Bruce Riutta, Carl Lackey, Jim Branch, Bob Paradise, John Mayasich.
   Forwards: Ron Nasland, Paul Coppo, Larry Pleau, Larry Stordahl, Bill Reichert, Gary Gambucci, Tim Sheehy, Keith Christiansen, Pete Markle, Jerry Lackey, Larry Skime.
   Coach: John Mayasich (player-coach).

	LEADING SCORERS	Goals	Assists	Points
1.	Anatoli Firsov	10	4	14
2.	Boris Mikhailov	9	5	14
2.	Ulf Sterner	9	5	14
4.	Jaroslav Holík	4	10	14
5.	Valeri Kharlamov	6	7	13

World Championship Group B (Yugoslavia)

East Germany moved up to the 1970 Pool A tournament. Austria and Italy were moved down to Pool C. Later, when Canada stopped playing internationally, Poland, who came in second, also moved up to take their place.

GDR

POL

YUG

GER

NOR

ROM

AUT

ITA

W

T

L

GF–GA

PTS

7.

East Germany

***

4:1

6:1

6:1

13:4

11:2

11:3

11:1

7

0

0

62:13

14

8.

Poland

1:4

***

4:1

3:2

5:1

4:2

9:1

5:2

6

0

1

31:13

12

9.

Yugoslavia

1:6

1:4

***

4:1

3:3

4:4

2:1

2:1

3

2

2

17:20

8

10.

West Germany

1:6

2:3

1:4

***

5:0

6:2

8:0

5:1

4

0

3

28:16

8

11.

Norway

4:13

1:5

3:3

0:5

***

5:4

3:3

10:2

2

2

3

26:35

6

12.

Romania

2:11

2:4

4:4

2:6

4:5

***

5:4

5:2

2

1

4

24:36

5

13.

Austria

3:11

1:9

1:2

0:8

3:3

4:5

***

3:1

1

1

5

15:39

3

14.

Italy

1:11

2:5

1:2

1:5

2:10

2:5

1:3

***

0

0

7

10:41

0

World Championship Group C (Yugoslavia)

In the 1969 Ice Hockey World Championships, Group C was held in Skopje, Yugoslavia. Japan and Switzerland moved up to the 1970 Pool B tournament. Later, Bulgaria also joined them to replace Poland.

The games took place between February 24 and March 2, 1969, in Skopje. Teams from Japan, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Hungary, the Netherlands, and Denmark competed in these matches. Each team played against the others, and the results helped decide which teams would advance to the next level of competition.

JPN

SUI

HUN

NED

BUL

DEN

W

T

L

GF–GA

PTS

15.

Japan

***

5:2

6:3

11:0

3:4

11:1

4

0

1

36:10

8

16.

Switzerland

2:5

***

11:1

8:0

11:1

9:0

4

0

1

41:9

8

17.

Hungary

3:6

1:11

***

13:1

5:3

4:1

3

0

2

26:22

6

18.

Netherlands

0:11

0:8

1:13

***

7:5

4:3

2

0

3

12:40

4

19.

Bulgaria

4:3

3:11

3:5

5:7

***

4:2

2

0

3

19:28

4

20.

Denmark

1:11

0:9

1:4

3:4

2:4

***

0

0

5

7:32

0

Ranking and statistics

The 1969 Ice Hockey World Championships awarded special honors to top players chosen by the tournament directorate. Leif Holmqvist from Sweden was named the best goaltender, Jan Suchý from Czechoslovakia the best defenceman, and Ulf Sterner from Sweden the best forward.

A Media All-Star Team was also selected, featuring Vladimír Dzurilla from Czechoslovakia as goaltender, Jan Suchý and Lennart Svedberg from Sweden on defence, and forwards Anatoli Firsov from the Soviet Union, Václav Nedomanský from Czechoslovakia, and Ulf Sterner from Sweden.

1969 IIHF World Championship winners
Soviet Union 9th title

	Soviet Union
	Sweden
	Czechoslovakia
4	Canada
5	Finland
6	United States

	Soviet Union
	Sweden
	Czechoslovakia
4	Finland